Dean girls win Ulster U20 title
The under 20C colleges game between Dean Maguirc College and Largy College took place on Thursday at the Bawnacre centre, Irvinestown.
The Dean girls had come through two very tough games to qualify for the final. They beat Virginia College Cavan in the quarter final by 1pt after extra time and then St. Louis, Ballymena in the semi-final by 1pt in a replay after extra-time. The girls had shown real character to come through these battles. However, the team had lost Claire McGarrity through injury.
Winning such games stood to them going into the final. In the first half the girls played against a strong wind. The Dean started off well and went 2 points up, however, Largy College took control of the game and took full advantage of the wind and went 2-2 to 4 points up after 15 minutes. Once again the Dean girls dug deep and started to crawl their way back into the game. Maeve McCrystal was very influential during this period and scored 1-3 to bring the girls back into the game.
The game flowed from end to end and at half time only a single point separated them. Dean 1-06 to Largy 2-04.
The wind had a bearing on the second half and Largy college found it increasingly difficult to work the ball out of their defence. The dean team became more confident and started to dominate the play. The addition of Meaghan Clarke coming on further boosted the dean with her ability to run at the Largy defence. This helped settle the team and through Caitlin Gormley and player of the match Mairead McGarrity began to take control of the game. A few excellent frees from Sorcha Gormley helped the Dean pull away from their opponents and a late goal from Clodagh Munroe sealed the title.
Overall it was an excellent team performance and the girls now go onto to represent the school in the All-Ireland series. The game finished Dean Maguirc College 2-19 to Largy College 2-06.
Dean Team: Aoibh Kerr, Aoibhinn Daly, Sarah Devlin, Aimee McGuigan, Cloda McNamee, Eimear McGarrity, Mairead McGarrity, Leah McGuigan, Caoimhe Warnock (0-1), Alanagh McCallan (0-1), Caitlin Gormley (0-3), Sorcha Gormley (0-3), Mollie Clarke (0-1), Meave McCrystal (1-7), Clodagh Munroe (1-2): Subs used: Blaithnait Kerr, Meaghan Clarke (0-1), Aine Grimes, Laura Corcoran and Siofra Loughran. Caitlin Conway, Aine McPhillips, Seanna Clarke, Ebony-Leigh Johnston, Mary Gormley, Anna Sweeney, Maebh McGarrity, Aoibhean Kerr.